New Grub Street by George Gissing re-creates a microcosm of London's literary society as he experienced it. This novel is both a major social document and a compelling story that draws readers into the twilit world of Edwin Reardon, a struggling novelist, and his friends and acquaintances on Grub Street, including the ambitious journalist Jasper Milvain and the embittered critic Alfred Yule.

Gissing brings to life the bitter battles fought out in obscure garrets or in the Reading Room of the British Museum, portraying the conflict between integrity and the demands of the marketplace. The narrative delves into the miseries of genteel poverty and the damage that failure and hardship inflict on human personality and relationships.